Additive feeding means



Jan. 11, 1966 e. c. CURRIE ADDITIVE FEEDING MEANS Filed May 15. 1961 IVEN TOR.

M e U c a w m n 5 United States Patent 3,228,049 ADDITKVE FEEBING MEANSGrover C. Currie, 2518 Inverness Road, Charlotte, N.C. Filed May 15,1961, Ser. No. 109,934 3 Claims. (Cl. 4-226) This invention relatesgenerally to additive feeding means of the type operating to add amodifying supplement to a main stream of liquid in proportion to theflow of the main stream, and more particularly to means of this sortthat is uniquely adapted for additive feeding to an intermittentlyflowing main stream.

A familiar example of intermittent main stream flow is found in theoperation of a toilet flushing mechanism which commonly incorporates anoverflow standpipe and an associated refill tube for delivering refillwater through the stand pipe to the toilet bowl upon each occasion offlushing, and the additive feeding means of the present invention may beemployed to excellent advantage for regularly adding a solute supplementto the refill Water upon each operation of the flushing mechanism so asto maintain the toilet bowl clean and continuously deodorized; all asdescribed in further detail below in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration, mainly in vertical section, indicating theinstalled arrangement of an additive feeding means embodying the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIG. 1, without theconnection for delivery of refill water thereto, and with the cover forthe body member thereof removed; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the FIG. 1 device as seen from the rightin FIG. 1.

The illustrated embodiment of the present invention, as seen best inFIG. 1, comprises a body member formed with a conduit portion at 12 anda storage chamber portion at 14.

The conduit portion 12 is characterized in particular by a downwardlyopening passageway 16, that may have the top end thereof closedconveniently by a pivot screw 18 provided for securing a cover 26 inplace over the storage chamber portion 14. In addition, the conduitportion is arranged with a delivery conduit 22 communicating from theexterior of the body member 1! with the upper end of the passageway 16,and with a diversion conduit 24 branching adjacently from the passageway16 to the storage chamber portion 14. Both the delivery conduit 22 andthe diversion conduit 24 are preferably formed by tubular fittingsinserted in the conduit portion 12 to extend therefrom, respectively, atthe exterior of the body member 10 and the interior of the storagechamber portion 14, for a purpose that will appear presently.

The storage chamber portion 14 is shaped appropriately for containing asolid state supply of the material from which the desired solutesupplement is to be formed for additive feeding; a representativestacked arrangement of circular cakes of such material being indicatedat 2.6 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Alternatively, the solute forming materialmight be in pellet or flake or powder or any other solid state form, asmight be most conveniently supplied to and handled in the storagechamber portion 14 in par ticular instances.

It has already been noted above that the storage chamber portion 14 isprovided with a cover 28 that is positioned by a pivot screw 18, whichallows sidewise displacement of the cover 2i) for opening while tendingto maintain it at a closed covering position by suitable tightening.Additionally, the storage chamber portion 14 is formed with a drainageopening adjacent the lower end of the passageway 16 that opensdownwardly 'ice from the conduit portion 12. As shown in the drawings,this drainage opening is formed in the illustrated embodiment both bynotching the adjacent wall of the conduit portion 12, as indicated at28, and by shaping the lower face of the body member 10 beneath theconduit portion 12 with a depending circular flange 30 that isproportioned in diameter so that a segment of its cross section alsoextends into the area of the storage chamber portion 14.

At the depending circular flange 30, a discharge tube fitting 32 isseated to receive downward flow from the conduit portion passageway 16and drainage from the storage chamber portion 14 as well; and thedischarge tube 32 also serves the purpose of locating the body member 11in operative position as will be noted further just below. Finally, theillustrated additive feeding means of the present invention is equippedwith a suitable delivery connection means 34, such as a length offlexible tubing that may be installed on the delivery conduit fitting 22which is extended exteriorly of the body member 10, as previouslymentioned, for this purpose.

As thus constituted, the illustrated additive feeding means isparticularly adapted for operative installation in association with atoilet flushing mechanism, as already noted above. The arrangement ofsuch an installation is indicated in FIG. 1, in which the upper endportion of a toilet tank overflow standpipe is represented in dottedlines at 36, while the flushing water supply pipe is similarlyrepresented at 38 with a conventional gooseneck refill tube extendingtherefrom at 40. The refill tube 40 is often associated with the floatcontrolled ballcock valve (not shown) that is usually installed at thetop of the supply pipe 38 for regulating the flow of water to replenishthe tank supply at each flushing operation, and the refill tube 40 isnormally arranged to discharge in the upper end of the standpipe 36 todeliver thereto a sufficient quantity of water to insure refilling ofthe toilet bowl after each flushing operation.

When the additive feeding means of the present invention is used,however, the refill tube 40 is displaced from the upper end of thestandpipe 36, and the discharge tube 32 of the additive feeding means isinserted thereat in stead, while the flexible tubing 34 installed on thedelivery conduit fitting 22 is likewise installed on the displacedrefill tube 40, so that the additive feeding means is then interposedbetween the refill tube 40 and the standpipe 36.

Thereupon, each flushing operation results in directing the refill waterthrough the delivery conduit 22 to the downwardly opening passageway 16of the feeding means, and such delivery in turn results in bleeding aportion of this refill water through the branching diversion conduit 24for extracting contact with the solute forming material 26 in thestorage chamber 14, from which this extracting portion of the refillwater, together with the solute borne thereby, will drain to thedischarge tube 32 at which it is returned to the main stream of refillwater flowing downwardly from the passageway 16, so that a thusextracted solute supplement is added to the refill water regularly fordelivery to the toilet bowl after each flushing.

In order to direct the diverted extracting portion of the refill watereffectively into contact with the solute forming material 26, thediversion conduit fitting 24 is preferably extended suitably into thestorage chamber 14, as previously mentioned; and the relative orificesize of the diversion conduit 24, as compared with the size of thepassageway 16, may be readily proportioned for obtaining the extractingflow of diverted refill water through the chamber 14 in any desired orrequired quantity.

As to the solute forming material 26 that is used, a wide field ofselection is available. The material selected must, of course, be watersoluble for the presently de scribed purpose; and, as the aim in thisinstance is to provide for automatically cleansing and deodorizing atoilet bowl as an incident of its flushing, the material should beselected for its effectiveness in these respects. Otherwise, a widevariety of detergents, soaps, germicides, bactericides, and aromaticscents and the like may be used as a matter of choice.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes ofillustration only, and is not intended to be limited by this descriptionor otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for additive feeding of a water soluble solute supplement tothe toilet bowl refill water supplied by a toilet flushing mechanism ofthe type incorporating an overflow standpipe and an associated refilltube for delivering refill water to said standpipe upon each occasion offlushing, said additive feeding means comprising a body member having aconduit portion and a storage chamber portion, the conduit portion ofsaid body member being formed with a downwardly opening passagewayhaving a delivery conduit communicating from the exterior of said bodymember with the upper end of said passageway and a diversion conduitbranching adjacently from said passageway to said storage chamberportion, and the storage chamber portion of said body member beingformed to contain a solid state supply of material to form said solutesupplement and having a drainage opening adjacent the lower end of saidpassageway, a discharge tube fitted in said body member to extenddownwardly therefrom and to receive both the flow from the lower end ofsaid passageway and the drainage from said storage chamber opening, saiddischarge tube being proportioned for insertion at the upper end of saidoverflow standpipe to support said additive feeding means thereat inplace of said refill tube, and means for connecting said refill tubewith said delivery conduit, whereby an extracting portion of said refillwater is diverted from said passageway through said storage chamberportion for draining return to add said solute supplement to the refillWater flow upon each operation of said flushing mechanism.

2. Means for additive feeding as defined in claim 1 and furthercharacterized in that said diversion conduit is proportioned in relationto said passageway for obtaining a flow of the extracting portion ofsaid refill Water through said storage chamber portion in a desiredquantity.

3. Means for additive feeding as defined in claim 1 and furthercharacterized in that the material for forming said solute supplementcomprises a cleansing and deodorizing composition.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,211,137 1/1917Grant 4224 XR 2,570,934 10/1951 Foster 4-228 2,993,214 7/1961 Franco4228 FOREIGN PATENTS 259,366 10/1926 Great Britain.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

FRANK E. BAILEY, FRANK H. BRONAUGH,

EDWARD V. BENHAM, Examiners.

1. MEANS FOR ADDITIVE FEEDING OF A WATER SOLUBLE SOLUTE SUPPLEMENT OFTHE TOILET BOWL REFIL WATER SUPPLIED BY A TOILET FLUSHING MECHANISM OFTHE TYPE INCORPORATING AN OVERFLOW STANDPIPE AND AN ASSOCIATED REFILLTUBE FOR DELIVERING REFILL WATER TO SAID STANDPIPE UPON EACH OCCASION OFFLUSHING, SAID ADDITIVE FEEDING MEANS COMPRISING A BODY MEMBER HAVING ACONDUIT PORTION AND A STORAGE CHAMBER PORTION, THE CONDUIT PORTION OFSAID BODY MEMBER BEING FORMED WITH A DOWNWARDLY OPENING PASSAGEWAYHAVING A DELIVERY CONDUIT COMMUNICATING FROM THE EXTERIOR OF SAID BODYMEMBER WITH THE UPPER END OF SAID PASSAGEWAY AND A DIVERSION CONDUITBRANCHING ADJACENTLY FROM SAID PASSAGEWAY TO SAID STORAGE CHAMBERPORTION, AND THE STORAGE CHAMBER PORTION OF SAID BODY MEMBER BEINGFORMED TO CONTAIN A SOLID STATE SUPPLY OF MATERIAL TO FORM SAID SOLUTESUPPLEMENT AND HAVING A DRAINAGE OPENING ADJACENT THE LOWER END OF SAIDPASSAGEWAY, A DISCHARGE TUBE FITTED IN SAID BODY MEMBER TO EXTENDDOWNWARDLY THEREEFROM AND TO RECEIVE BOTH THE FLOW FROM THE LOWER END OFSAID PASSAGEWAY AND THE DRAINAGE FROM SAID STORAGE CHAMBER OPENING, SAIDDISCHARGE TUBE BEING PROPORTIONED FOR INSERTION AT THE UPPER END OF SAIDOVERFLOW STANDPIPE TO SUPPORT SAID ADDITIVE FEEDING MEANS THEREAT INPLACE OF SAID REFILL TUBE, AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID REFILL TUBEWITH SAID DELIVERY CONDUIT, WHEREBY AN EXTRACTING PORTION OF SAID REFILLWATER IS DIVERTED FROM SAID PASSAGEWAY THROUGH SAID STORAGE CHAMBERPORTION FOR DRAINING RETURN TO ADD SAID SOLUTE SUPPLEMENT TO THE REFILLWATER FLOW UPON EACH OPERATION OF SAID FLUSHING MECHANISM.